May 31 - At least 100,000 EchoStar Communica
tions customers in four cities lost a local channel Tuesday as the satellite-TV com
pany failed to reach agreements with broadcasters to carry the signals.

Littleton-based EchoStar said network affiliates in the four cities - New York; Nashville, Tenn.; Minneapolis and Salt Lake City - imposed unreasonable demands such as requiring it to carry additional, unpopular channels. The affiliates responded that EchoStar failed to respond to their requests during the negotiations.

Facing a Monday deadline, EchoStar had reached rebroadcasting agreements or extensions with the rest of the 125 local channels it carries to customers, including those in Denver.

"We've done all we can do," said Charlie Ergen, EchoStar's chairman. "The con
sumer shouldn't be affected by a business disagreement." EchoStar has 4 million customers, and company officials agreed with analysts that the move will have little effect on its subscriber base or finances. But it poses a competitive problem for EchoStar, whose larger competitor, DirecTV, successfully negotiated all of its local broadcasting agreements.

In a similar negotiation several weeks ago, Time Warner was stung when ABC cut off service to customers of the cable company in seven cities.

EchoStar officials came out swinging Tuesday, asking their customers to contact their congressional representatives and local TV managers to demand the broadcasters negotiate fairly.

"The fact is, there are a couple bad apples out there that didn't negotiate in good faith, in our opinion," said EchoStar senior vice president David Moskowitz. "That's unfortunate and it affects the consumer." EchoStar on Tuesday asked the Federal Communications Commission to require the affiliates to renegotiate "in good faith."

If agreements aren't reached with the broadcasters, Moskowitz said EchoStar will lobby lawmakers to review the legislation, passed in November, which allowed satellite-TV companies to offer local channels. The company opposed the legislation at the time because it did not hold broadcasters to a definite standard in negotiating with the satellite-TV companies.

The law requires only that they negotiate "in good faith," Moskowitz said.

Chris-Craft/United Television, which owns UPN's affiliate in New York and ABC's affiliate in Salt Lake City, wanted EchoStar to broadcast seven UPN channels from other markets "that virtually no one watches or cares about,"
Moskowitz said.

Clear Channel Communications, owner of the Fox affiliate in Minneapolis, wanted EchoStar to pay retroactively to Nov. 9, when the legislation was passed, he said. At that time, EchoStar and its competitors began carrying the channels, but had six months to negotiate agreements with the individual affiliates. Moskowitz said the law allowed the satellite companies to begin paying after the six-month period.

Landmark Communications, the owner of CBS' affiliate in Nashville wanted EchoStar to carry a new cable news channel that Moskowitz said has no viewership.

In other agreements, he said, EchoStar has agreed to carry new channels, but only if they have a viewership.

"If we think there's a channel people will want to watch, we'll put it up," he said.

Chris-Craft/United Television said in a statement it had offered EchoStar a short-term agreement which would have allowed for uninterrupted service while the companies continued negotiations.

Landmark officials said EchoStar rejected their offer for a sevenday extension of discussions. The company had sought to have its CBS affiliate, WTVF, as well as a local news channel carried on the Dish Network, at no cost but under the same terms agreed to by local cable operators.

From a financial standpoint, the channel shutdowns are unlikely to have a significant effect on EchoStar, analysts said.

EchoStar will waive the $4.99 fee it charges for local channels to all customers in the affected markets.

It also will supply free antennaes and may provide network channels from nearby cities to about 25 percent of the customers who lost local channels.

Moskowitz would not say how much those actions will cost the company, but admitted it could become expensive if it's not resolved quickly.

Robert Beck, an analyst with Lehman Brothers in New York, said he thinks the issues will be resolved soon - regardless of whether the FCC takes action against the broadcasters.

"It behooves the broadcasters to have as many eyeballs watching their programming as possible," he said. "I would look for it to get done quickly. It's in the interests of both."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Copyright 2000 The Denver Post. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.